The Mercedes S600 Makes It’s Final Road Trip – To Its New Owners!!!

Between Autotrader and this blog I had three genuine contacts about buying my 2010 Mercedes S600, and days before I was to auction the car on MB Market one of them became most intriguing. A young man named Jared Harris in Arizona found the S600 on this blog and we corresponded a bit before we got serious. Sent Jared photographs of the underside of the car as requested and some details on MaxCare, and then he sweetened the pot. He knew from the blog I dig road trips, he wasn’t much interested in booking a car hauler, and suggested I drive the car to Phoenix! He got my attention. I love this country and seeing it by road is a very special way to appreciate it. I also love this car on the road.

I really wanted to do this, although I had angst over what happens if I drive all the way out there (almost 2,300 miles) and for whatever reason, the deal doesn’t happen. I’d have to fly home to make a previous commitment here and fly back at a later date to retrieve the car and drive it back to Virginia. In addition to the cost and putting the car over 100,000 miles on the odometer, I’d have to suffer shame and embarrassment telling friends and family (and you!) I went ahead with this crazy plan. But on the phone the buyer seemed like a good man who shared my values that car guys don’t screw car guys, and Jared even Venmo’d me a decent deposit to cover my outbound expenses and lessen my stress. We each signed a deposit form I found on the internet, and we were all in. The price? The amount I had planned as my reserve on MB Market. Seemed fair to all.

Before I left, I had the car’s exterior detailed again, and even though the Mercedes wasn’t due for Service D for another couple of months I figured with a 2,300-mile drive upcoming I’d hate to deliver him a car and the light come on not long after. So, the day before I left, I dropped another $300 on an oil change and brake flush. I had a music gig to play in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia the night before, so I loaded up the Mercedes in advance and took my M3 to the gig. I had three days to get to Phoenix, another day to clean the car there (killed a lotta bugs), and a day to fly home. No margin for error.

(If you have no time or interest in the drive itself, scroll to the bottom to see how the sale turned out.)

DAY 1 – Sunday morning I made a quick Panera stop for a pot of coffee, and headed west from Leesburg, Virginia on Route 7, to Interstate 81 South from Winchester to Bristol a good five hours away. Running with Waze and a radar detector I still don’t like being the fastest guy in the left lane unless I’m in Germany, so I humbly followed a blue Kia Forte with Pennsylvania tags for an hour at high speeds. Somewhere near Chambersburg I lost sight of him in traffic but later, up ahead a saw a police cruiser U-turn in the median with blue and red lights a flashin’ and disappear over a hill. Crested that hill to see the blue Kia pulled over. I feel like I should split the ticket with him. If you’re reading this send me a Venmo request.

I continued on past Bristol, Tennessee, planning to go for a short run (remember the Cadillac Clotmobile?), find a McDonald’s, and gas up. Literally. Did a horrible map recon and lost way too much time making my way to Blountville, Tennessee to knock out that trifecta. Back on I-81 and after an hour began to curve west on I-40. My plan for day one was at least 750 miles, and that looked a lot like overnighting between Nashville and Memphis in Jackson, Tennessee. Rolled through Nashville at sunset wondering at the foolishness of these long-distance drives where I don’t stop and see nothing. Someday maybe I will.

Day One stats – 761 miles in 10:37 of driving, averaging 20.9 mpg at 72 mph. Content.

DAY 2 – Wanted to go long Monday and have an easier day three, so got up early, and promptly wasted a half hour finding another Panera to coffee up for free before rolling out on I-40 West. Love the Panera monthly coffee subscription club. They lose money on me. Loosely set my target at 900 miles and struggled all day with Amarillo being too short and Albuquerque too far. I was going to cross Arkansas, Oklahoma, the tip of Texas, and into New Mexico, though. Would figure out an overnight hotel somewhere along the way.

Crossed the Mississippi in Memphis, gassed up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and made my way to Van Buren, Arkansas across from Fort Smith after five hours/400 miles for my daily clot buster run. Did a better map recon than the day before, and Lee Creek park looked fine on the map, a little sketchy upon arrival – the houseboats moored along the Arkansas River look abandoned but aren’t (that’s a cute yellow Chevy Cobalt in the background) – and the run turned out to be a nice break. Car was a little out of place but intact upon my return. Cleaned up and got back on the interstate for the afternoon sprint west. After running in 90-degree weather I was grateful for the air-conditioned seats.

Took on more gas in Weatherford, Oklahoma – the second 22 gallon fill up that day, and headed for Texas. The Mercedes could do 500+ miles on a tank of gas, and I tried to time stops so that every few hours I was either stopping for gas, food, coffee, or just to stretch. The Texas border crossing came at the 1,500 mile mark late on day two, and with two thirds of the drive done I got a kick out of the Greg Trooper song playing from my audio. So Far To Go. The Texas rest stop sign was imposing. I think I want one for my lawn back east.

Stuck around to watch the sunset at the rest stop, book a hotel in Tucumcari, New Mexico even though I couldn’t pronounce it (Tucumcari, not New Mexico) then back on the highway. Had another three hours and 200 miles to go.

Driving at sunset out west is majestic. Driving in the dark less so but I needed to push and make sure there was no doubt I’d make Gilbert, Arizona by the next evening.

Day Two – 918 miles in 12:36 of driving, averaging 20.6 mpg at 73 mph. Tired.

DAY 3 – I was energized about it being the final day and satisfied how well the drive had gone so far and set out for Phoenix in a real good mood. Was going to be a “short” day. Put a few hours in and gassed up in Albuquerque, really enjoying the wide-open roads of New Mexico. Sang my way loudly with the radio while heading down Interstate 40 at high-speed racking up the miles.

An odd range of emotions crept in on the final drive day – what if things went bad in Gilbert and the buyer backed out? What if the Mercedes broke in the last 500 miles? But the car was humming like a Mercedes should. What if I’m making a huge mistake selling this very special car – I’d have to add $50,000 to the cash sale to buy a modern S-class….there are no V-12 Mercedes on the market….maybe I’m an idiot? A good time for a break.

Took a poll and the survey said I should stop in Gallup, New Mexico after four hours of driving for my midday run. It was a “dry” 90 degrees and not bad weather wise, but I hadn’t counted on the 6,500’ elevation on this lumbering run. Gallop I did not. Was kind of neat to run along old Route 66 towards the airport, next to freight trains. A riverboat would have completed the multimodal run. Guess I had that yesterday with the houseboats.

Back on the road after stretching my legs, I decided one last time to let the S600 stretch its legs. I was a little worried I would blow up the car or maybe my last dash cam footage would be me and the S rolling in the tumbleweeds but it had to be done. Won’t incriminate myself, but it’s entirely possible I may have pegged the governed limit for US models. More accurately, the car may have exceeded the governor by 1 mph. Smooth and quiet and true as it could be on a hot section of southwest US road. See above. Returned to cruising altitude for the rest of the drive. The scenery out west is so fascinating. See below.

This is the best scenery of all, don’t you think? Another McDonald’s stop and back on the highway to continue the sprint to Gilbert, Arizona and a hotel before dinner. Or so I thought.

Didn’t worry so much about gas when I was on I-40, thinking it was almost 500 miles from Albuquerque to Gilbert and if need be I’d gas up in Flagstaff, on the outskirts of Phoenix, or maybe all the way to the destination. At highway speeds I was still averaging over 20 mpg. And then my situation changed.

Finished my quarter pounder as I crossed into Arizona, and approaching Holbrooke Waze diverted me off of Interstate 40 onto Arizona State Road 77 briefly, then on a two-lane Arizona State Road 377 and 260.  Thought maybe just diverting around an accident and I’d be back on 40 to Gilbert, but no – a rugged 100-mile backcountry blitz passing pickups and RV’s swiftly when the road allowed. 

Crossed the Sitgreaves National Forest at over 5,000 feet, ascending and descending steep grades through tremendous scenery. Rolled through “towns” like Hunter Creek and Kohl’s Ranch with populations of 45 people each. Made it to Payson, Arizona, less than 80 miles from Gilbert, and the Mercedes said I had over 100 miles of range, so I passed on gas, and got a McDonald’s ice cream cone instead – eaten quickly, it was about 100 degrees.

Stretched, and got back on the road heading south on 87 – the two-lane South Beeline Highway. Not far outside of town I passed the first “brake check” area and the switchbacks began again. So did a backlog of slow cars and fast passes. More than once my gas range was underwater, if you will – distance to Gilbert became more than my range. The Mercedes fuel tank has a capacity of 23.8 gallons and four of my five fill ups on the journey were over 22 gallons. Mentally I was toggling between “this is beautiful out here” and “you’re really an idiot for always pushing to fuel up on fumes!”. Was also weary, totally saturated on coffee, animal crackers, country music, podcasts, live news, annoying my friends with poorly executed voice-to-text conversations, and general angst.

Descending from the pass I literally drifted downhill at times and, on the flatlands, set the cruise control on 65 mph managing fuel consumption and hoping for the best. Well, I made it to the outskirts of Gilbert, Arizona and was congratulating myself for my excellent fuel management skills (and not dying) only to hit an unexpected and gnarly rush hour. Better to run out of gas here than in the desert, but still dumb. Made it to the hotel, and even to the car wash the next day before tanking up with 22 ¼ gallons – at $107.

Day Three – 583 miles in 8:16 of driving, averaging 20 mpg at 70 mph. Done!

Stats for the three days? Totaled 2,263 miles in 31:31, averaged 20.6 mpg at 72 mph. I had filled up five times, consumed 109 gallons of gas, and spent $466 on fuel. I also tallied up my meals on the drive – McDonald’s once a day totaled $21.89, my morning Panera coffee and hotel breakfast were free, and I left home with about $50 in consumables. So, over the 2,263 miles my personal fuel costs were $71.89, making me way more fuel efficient than a Mercedes.

If the drive didn’t wear me out enough, the heat sure did. Kept singing the Robert Earl Keen song about Arizona heat. No way I was going for a run in this town.

My day was done. Had no interest in getting back in the car so walked to a local restaurant and knocked back some cocktails and an honest to God sit down dinner! And started thinking about what needed to be done the next day to complete the sale and the journey.

Day 4 -Returned to the car in the morning and found my dash cam couldn’t take the heat anymore…..dangling like an outlaw from the gallows in a desert town. Watching this video made me sick.

It was time to prep the car for presentation and sale to Jared. I know what you’re thinking, “Hmmm – with those afternoon runs and McDonald’s stops, how did you keep the car so fresh?”. Picked up a can of Axe Apollo Sage and Cedarwood scented 48 hour “High Definition” (?) body spray at Walgreens on Day 1 that served me well. Sage and Cedarwood seemed appropriate, albeit nauseating in an aerosol.

The car was also covered in bugs. Reminded me of the 2015 cross-country drive I did in a Suburban, where I counted the number of dead bug splats in a 4″x4″ square, calculated the windshield area, and extrapolated that I had slaughtered 14,000 bugs – in just one day. I didn’t feel good about that.

In this heat there was no way I could pretty up the car myself, so I found a professional high-end car wash and had them clean it inside and out. Researched a $100 hand wash place, and they said I was being foolish. The car was in great shape except for the bugs, and for $30 they not only got the outside pristine, they eliminated any hint of Axe, McDonald’s, or Chuck from the interior. Money well spent.

Unfortunately, on the drive, I noted two problems I wouldn’t be happy selling the car to Jared without addressing, so I headed to a Mercedes dealer to make it right. The easy one? The plug that attaches the gas cap tether to the fuel filler door was missing and cost me $6 to replace. Installed it myself! The second problem more shocking – during the long drive I once went to recline my seatback and found the toggle switch slightly broken. I never used the switch over the years, relying on the memory feature, so no idea how long it had been like that. But I wouldn’t sell it that way and it’s not a MaxCare repair. Horrified to learn the Mercedes dealer charges $980 for the repair – half for the switch and half for installation. The part would have to be ordered, so I elected to do the best I could – Venmo Jared the $980 and hope he could get it fixed.

The sale was actually fun. The night before Jared and I had a long, personal, text exchange about cars, how we got into them, what we had driven over the years, and what other cars we might enjoy. He really knows cars. We had a plan to meet at his credit union where the financial processing and payment would happen. I showed up early and covered the car to add an element of surprise. Jared and his wife Jenna arrived, and we went right inside to do the paperwork. It took about a half an hour and might have gone faster but we kept distracting the loan officer talking cars. The couple own a Boxster and a high mileage, very cool Mercedes E320 wagon.

Anyway, I was asked what’s the final current mileage on the S600 for the paperwork, and had to go outside to check, and had to remove the car cover to get inside to the odometer. That’s when I realized Jared and Jenna had never even seen the car before going inside to do the paperwork, and first saw it after we had done the deal. I very much appreciated how far off I was in the very beginning of this story, worried how the deal might go wrong. As I said, we all ran by the same code – car guys (and gals) don’t screw car guys. Good people.

Jared and Jenna drove me back to my hotel, after taking their Boxster home and letting me see the E320 estate, and it was neat to see this young couple proudly piloting the S600. I was amused when Jared hit a button, issued a verbal command, and got his favorite radio station to play. In 3 ½ years of ownership I never knew I could do that! RTFM, as they say. Finally, we completed the document to transfer MaxCare to the new owners, and I left them with a check and the envelope to mail the package to Maxcare – in Scottsdale, only a few miles away! And pleased to say Jared reports the MaxCare transfer has been completed as of this writing.

All in all this has been a very rewarding experience. Jared was so on the mark that a final road trip would be a fitting way to part with the car, the price was right and I’m not hung up on the travel costs or the seatback switch, and I got to meet some really fine young car enthusiasts in Gilbert, Arizona. I wish them the best with this very special car, and I’ll resume my search for my next luxury unicorn. And I’ll get back to blogging about unicorns.